Grief, Cancer and Good Old Chicken Soup

Published: October 16, 2007

Researchers at Columbia University have stumbled across a surprising trend. More than half of 33 Philadelphia-region doctors that the scientists interviewed said they had prescribed Xanax and other potentially addictive drugs specifically for bereavement.

Powerful benzodiazepines like Xanax, Valium and Ativan are widely overused in older patients, many experts fear, leading to serious health worries, including sleep troubles, cognitive difficulties, car crashes and falls. Yet doctors in the survey seemed willing to offer unlimited amounts of these addictive drugs to help patients cope with death.

The researchers also interviewed 50 older long-term users of the drugs. Notably, 20 percent said they were initially prescribed benzodiazepines for bereavement but never stopped taking them. The average length of use was nine years.

ANOTHER QUAFF OF CONFUSION

A new study linking alcoholic beverages to breast cancer has left many women in a panic. Researchers at Kaiser Permanente in Oakland, Calif., found a 30 percent increase in risk among women who had three or more drinks a day. Previously, a pooled analysis by Harvard researchers of six studies on alcohol and breast cancer showed that a woman's risk increased by 9 percent for every 10 grams of alcohol a day that she drinks.

In the United States, a typical drink delivers about 12 grams to 14 grams of alcohol. That means just two drinks a day might increase a woman's risk for breast cancer by 27 percent. That's about the same increase associated with long-term use of estrogen or smoking a pack a day of cigarettes.

But before panicking, remember that these scary percentages translate into very small risks for the individual woman. A typical 50-year-old has a five-year breast cancer risk of about 3 percent. If her risk jumps by 30 percent, her individual risk remains about 4 percent.

IT COULDN'T HURT

With government experts questioning the safety and effectiveness of cold medications for kids, the best option for parents this cold and flu season may be home remedies like chicken soup. As it turns out, a handful of scientific studies show that chicken soup really could have medicinal value.

Using blood samples from volunteers, Dr. Stephen Rennard of the University of Nebraska showed that chicken soup inhibited the movement of neutrophils, the most common type of white blood cell that defends against infection. Dr. Rennard theorizes that by inhibiting the migration of these infection-fighting cells in the body, chicken soup essentially helps reduce upper respiratory cold symptoms.